Skip to content

Cotton row and plant spacing options

Cotton plant geometry is matched to growth habit, soil depth, irrigation status and the harvest system. ICAR-CICR recognises three broad spacing regimes for India: conventional hybrid spacing, intermediate paired-row configurations, and the high-density planting system (HDPS).

Principle

Plant population per hectare and within-row competition for light, water and nutrients drive boll number per plant. Lower populations with wider spacing favour large-bolled hybrids with extended sympodial branching, while higher populations with closer spacing favour compact, short-duration genotypes producing fewer bolls per plant but more bolls per hectare.

Implementation

The conventional Indian recommendation for hybrid cotton on heavier soils is 90 × 60 cm row × plant spacing (roughly 18,500 plants/ha). HDPS configurations use 45-60 cm row spacing with 10 cm plant-to-plant spacing, raising plant population to 1.0-3.0 lakh plants/ha — about ten times the conventional population. Intermediate paired-row layouts (see Amrit Pattern Cotton, Cotton Double Row Footing Drainage) alternate wide and narrow rows to combine canopy ventilation with high effective populations.

Comparative AICRP trials on rainfed Vertisols report 60 × 10 cm spacing (1.66 lakh plants/ha) yielding approximately 1,705 kg/ha seed cotton, against 1,200-1,400 kg/ha at conventional 90 × 60 cm spacing.

Adoption context

Farmers select among options on the basis of variety architecture, irrigation, soil and labour. Tall, indeterminate hybrids such as Crystal Cch 369 and Rasi 659 under heavy irrigation use conventional spacing; compact short-duration varieties recommended by CICR (Suraj, Anjali) and HDPS-adapted hybrids use 60 × 10 cm. Paired-row layouts on raised beds are gaining traction in rainfed Vidarbha and Marathwada.

Limitations

HDPS requires precise seed-rate, weed control and topping to prevent canopy closure (see Cotton Topping Pinching). Conventional spacing under-utilises rainfed Vertisols where moisture availability supports closer planting.

See also High Density Planting System Cotton, Amrit Pattern Cotton, Cotton Topping Pinching, Cotton First 30 Days Management, Cotton Double Row Footing Drainage.

References

  1. ICAR-CICR Crop Production. ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research.
  2. High Density Planting System. ICAR-CICR.
  3. Cotton Varieties and Hybrids - CICR Technical Bulletin. vikaspedia.